[Python-Dev] %b format?

[Tim Peters]

[ESR]
> The 0xxx notation was copied from PDP-11 assembler literals -- the
> instruction-set design of the PDP-11 was such that most of the
> instruction subfields fit in octal digits, so this convention made it
> somewhat easier to read machine-code dumps.

That doesn't mean they weren't certifiably insane.  At Cray, we had a much
more sensible convention:  *all* numbers were octal (yes, it was a 64-bit
box and octal didn't make any sense, but Seymour Cray got used to it from
the 60-bit CDC w/ 18-bit address registers and didn't feel like changing).
My first boss there loved telling the story about he was out for a drive
with the family, and excitedly screamed "Hey, kids!  Look!  The odometer is
just about to change to 40,000!".  Of course it read 37,777.9 at the time,
and they thought he was nuts.  That's where this kind of thing always leads
in the end.

to-disgrace-despair-and-eventually-ruin-ly y'rs  - tim